Problem-plagued Sukhoi Superjet fails take-off at Moscow airport

MOSCOW Feb 25 (Reuters) - A Sukhoi Superjet 100 failed to
take off from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after one of its
engines malfunctioned, Interfax reported, further clouding the
future of Russia's first post-Soviet civil plane project.

The Superjet programme hit uncertainty last year after one
of its planes crashed in Indonesia during a promotional flight,
which investigators said was due to pilot error and Jakarta air
traffic control's lack of a minimum safe altitude system.

Russia's Aeroflot, the only airline operating the
aircraft so far, also grounded four of its 10 Superjets earlier
this month due to technical problems.

The Sunday evening flight from Moscow to the Ukrainian city
of Kharkiv was called off after the plane had started gaining
speed to take off, news agency Interfax reported on Monday,
quoting a source at the airport's air traffic control service.

"For an unknown reason the control system for engine No. 1
failed and the crew decided to abort the take-off," the source
said. It was not clear how many passengers were on board.

A source close to Sukhoi confirmed the take-off failure but
blamed the problem on the airline's maintenance of the aircraft.
Aeroflot did not respond to requests for information.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has championed the project
which aims to compete with regional jetmakers like Brazil's
Embraer or Canada's Bombardier and help
Russia shake off its reputation for poor air safety.

The project is led by Sukhoi - part of state-owned United
Aircraft Corporation, an umbrella corporation Putin
created in 2006 to reorganise and revive the country's aircraft
industry - in partnership with Italy's Finmeccanica.

Russia has declared ambitions to sell $250 billion worth of
aircraft by 2025 and overtake even Soviet-era output records to
compete with U.S. and European giants.